Wolves & Dudley revives stock plan

BREWING and pubs group Wolverhampton & Dudley is expected to announce fresh plans this week to buy back a tranche of its shares. While it was fending off a bid last year from Pubmaster, W&D unveiled plans to make a 'tender offer' for its shares, effectively underpinning their price.

But the shares rose strongly in the market, making it impossible for it to bid successfully for stock. W&D will unveil new plans to return cash to investors, with a new tender offer for its own shares the favoured option. The plan will be announced on Monday alongside half-year results that are expected to show profits of about £31m.

W&D's estate includes the 33-strong Pitcher & Piano bar chain. About a third of these are in central London, where takings have been down severely since September 11.